Two Degrees
by RageRunsStill
Summary: It's amazing what two degrees can do.


_**A/N:**__ The very first-ever TED/MADISON FIC! __*Crowd cheers* Now we officially have every possible Starling/Holt pairing out there. Ned/Madison, Ted/Madison, Ted/Reagan and Ned/Reagan. I feel proud of myself. C: Don't forget to review, and be sure to give your thoughts on this dazzling pairing!  
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_I would also like to thank Cecelia S. Bradley, for choosing this as the winner of her Unpopular Pairings contest! It means so, so, so much! :D_

_As well as thanking everybody who voted for this story in the Best OneShot category of **The Madrigal Awards**! Because of you guys, I won first place in that category! I won a Madrigal award, which is, for me at least, and amazing honor. So thanks again, everybody who liked/voted for my story!  
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_Also, please note that __Ted is not blind in this story.__ Thank you._

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><p><em>One, two, three, FOUR! One, two, three, FOUR! One, two, three, WHOA! Ugh, darn it, not again!<em>

Madison Holt got back up on her feet, glancing around. She saw the workout equipment that surrounded her in the local gymnasium, and couldn't help but smile. Ever since her sister had started ballet, Madison had decided to try something out-of-the-box as well. So now she's doing gymnastics, and is unsurprisingly good at it, but is surprisingly enjoying it. She enjoyed many things about it, like the cheers when she perfectly executed a daring move, winning the trophies at the tournaments, and most of all, the fact that she was the best gymnast on the team. That wasn't anything new, but she still loved being able to say the words, "I'm the best on the team."

"Okay," she muttered, "let's try this again."

Madison took a running head start down the long yoga-like mat, specifically made for doing flips. She started off with a cartwheel, and was soon counting in her head like her teacher told her to.

_One, two, three, FOUR! One, two, three, FOUR! One, two- AHHHH!_

Madison's front handspring was cut off when she tried to do a salto – without a trampoline. She raised her fist from her painful position on the floor and banged it on the ground. _One more half rotation and I would've been able to land on my feet! It would've been perfect!_

"You miscalculated by two degrees. That's why you couldn't make the turn."

Madison was on her feet so fast that anyone watching would have sworn she had wings on them. She whipped around to face the unsuspected – not to mention uninvited and unwelcomed – visitor, ready to punch them in the face. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"What are you doing here, Starling?" she growled at him, refraining from saying either Ned or Ted.

"Well," he started, looking slightly amused, "last I checked, this was a public place. Is there a rule about me not being here?"

"There should be!" she snapped. "But either way, I'm trying to practice, so buzz off, would ya?"

"That's not very nice, Madison," the boy – either Ned or Ted. Madison still couldn't judge who – laughed.

"I'm not paid enough to be nice to you!"

"Are you paid at all?"

"No!"

"Is that why it's not enough?"

"Yes!"

"Do you even know who you're talking to?"

"Of course!" Madison slapped her hands over her mouth, but immediately removed them. _Please don't ask for proof, please don't ask for proof, please don't ask for-_

The Starling boy arched an eyebrow. "Do you, now? Okay, then. Who am I?"

Madison quickly studied the man standing in front of her. Trying her very best to remember something, _anything_, different about the two Starling boys. The hair was styled the same, the eyes were the same color, the clothes were different, but that was probably because he had come here to workout or something. Exercise, like a normal person that wasn't couped up studying all day. She gave up. "Ned?" she guessed.

"Yup!"

"Really?"

"No."

Madison fixed him with a death glare. "Why do you insist on doing that?"

Ted smiled innocently. "Why, whatever do you mean, my fair maiden?"

"I hate you."

"I love you too," he said with a cocky smile.

"One, that wasn't a witty retort. Two, get out so I can finish practicing!" Madison barked.

The smile slipped from Ted's face. "Well, I would," he started, "but this is where the weights are. Ned's in the pool, Sinead's... _somewhere_, and I wanted to lift weights." He pointed to a corner of the room where weights of all shapes and sizes were laid out. "And this is where the weights are. What? You nervous about someone watching you?"

"I am not!" Madison sneered.

"Well, then let me workout. Besides, it's not like I'll be watching you, I'll be doing other things."

"Whatever," Madison growled. "Just don't breathe too loud, you'll ruin my concentration."

"Breathe extra loud, got it," he chuckled. Then went to the weightlifting area, sending Madison a wink on his way over.

"You better be joking, Starling, or you'll wish your birth was!"

"If that was a threat, it wasn't very convincing. Also, name's Ted."

"What_ever_. Shut up, will you?" Madison called over her shoulder, walking back to her starting position at the other end of the mat that stretched from one end of the gym to the other.

"You sound like Ned," Ted mumbled, browsing the selection of different machines. "He's always calling me an idiot and telling me to shut up."

"Me and him think much alike, I guess," Madison said, not exactly liking being compared to an Ekaterina. "Now, make good of those weights before I make good of my threat."

"Dually noted," Ted answered, setting some big, round disks on each end of a metal poll. "I'm just going to use the workbench. Then, even if I wanted to watch you I couldn't, because I'll be lying down."

"Are you kidding me?" Madison asked, noticing how much weight he was putting on the bar. "One-hundred and fifty pounds? No way you can lift that! That weighs more then me."

Ted sent her a self-assured smile. "Well, we'll just see about that, won't we?"

(*)

Ted finally set down the weight set. He was trying to see how many reps he could do in a row, and was happy to know he had made it to forty-two. _But still, forty-two isn't very good. Ned can lift to – what was it? Sixty-six?_ Ted sighed. Sometimes being related to someone who lifted weights for a hobby was such a drag.

He sat up and wiped the sweat off his brow. He was tired, but mildly satisfied with the results of the workout so far. He had much more to do though, if he could.

Ted turned his head and watched as Madison tried, once again, to do her front-handspring-with-a-salto-to-finish move. Needless to say, she didn't take Ted's advice, and so she fell on her face. Again.

"I'm telling you," Ted said. "Two degrees north and you'll be able to execute that move."

"How would you know?" Madison challenged. "Are you saying you do gymnastics?"

"No," Ted admitted. "But I know science, physics. You know, things that make gymnastics possible in the first place?" He arched an eyebrow. "Why don't you just trust me?"

"Because," Madison snapped, "you may be lying, trying to get revenge for the blindness thing, and I'm going to get hurt!"

"I wouldn't do that," Ted said. "Besides, I thought Holts don't feel fear?" He raised an eyebrow tauntingly, and felt a cocky smile work its way across his face. He sighed dramatically. "I guess I heard wrong. I should just go back to my workout and-"

"Wait."

Ted smiled. He had turned away from her, acting as if he was about to leave or something. He turned around again, careful to make sure that his smile wouldn't show. "Yes?"

"How do you adjust your body like that?" Madison asked, hesitance in her voice. "As I'm sure you've noticed, I'm not exactly good with angles and degrees."

Ted walked over and rested a hand on her back. "Whenever you spring off your feet, preparing for the salto, you're in this position." He applied subtle pressure to her back until she was leaning forward, bent at the waist. "If you would just angle yourself like this" - he pulled her up a bit by her shoulders - "then you'll be able to get in that last half turn you need."

Madison turned to Ted, a dubious look on her face. "You didn't move me very much. How could that little bit possibly make a difference?"

"You'd be surprised what two degrees can do."

Madison rolled her eyes, and then glared at her shoulders, each one in turn.

Ted realized he still had his hands there.

Oops.

"Just try it," he said nervously, motioning to the mat in front of them.

"If this is a trick-"

"It's not."

Madison took a deep breath and set off at a run, doing a cartwheel...

_Handspring! Handspring! Handspring!_

_Salto!_

Madison landed with both feet on the mat, arms stretched out on either side of her so her body made a T shape. Her eyes widened. _So Mr. Rocket Science was right?_ Madison turned to see Ted smiling triumphantly. "Don't look so smiley about it, Ekat!"

"Smiley about what?" he asked, smiling even wider. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Madison sighed. "You were right, okay? Now what do you want?"

Ted frowned and rested a hand on his stomach. "An ice cream, but that's probably not what you meant." His face lit up. "You buy?" Madison glared at him. "I buy?" he tried again.

"Sure, bring me back a banana split," Madison said, half-joking.

Ted pointed to a sign on the door to the gym. "No food or drink. Ice cream qualifies as both, I'm sure."

"You just always have to be right, don't you?"

"Yup!" he said. "So how about this; you come with me to the ice cream parlor down the road, and when we're done eating, we can come back and practice karate together since I won't do it with Ned anymore."

"Why will you do it with me, but not your own brother?"

"Because when he beats me, I don't have an excuse as to why I lost. With you, I can at least say I lost to a Tomas."

"Well gee, thanks."

Ted smiled in a falsely bright way. "You're welcome!"

(*)

Before they left for the ice cream store, Ted decided he wanted to take a shower first, despite the fact that they would be coming right back.

"But we're coming back," Madison had argued. "You're just going to get all sweaty again, anyway."

But in the end, Madison had given in. And, she decided, that instead of sitting there, waiting for Ted to finish, she would take a shower of her own. She ended up walking out of the shower room fifteen minutes later to find Ted leaning against the wall, obviously waiting for her. At first, Madison didn't care. However, Ted just _had_ to mention the fact that he had been standing there for ten minutes waiting on her. _Darned Ekat!_

So, in the present tense, they were walking down the road, each lost in their own thoughts. Madison was wondering why she was bothering to hang out (even though she didn't want to call it that) with an Ekaterina. As if he was her _buddy_ or something equally repulsive. _I'm going to need to take another shower after this,_ she thought.

Ted was thinking about random things. What flavor ice cream to get, whether it was a good idea to challenge a Tomas to a karate match, if he should change his CliqueMe page image. At the moment, it was one of his senior pictures from school. It was a picture of him leaning against the side of a red barn, arms crossed over his chest, right leg crossed over the left, and head tilted back just so, so his chin was slightly in the air. With a cocky smile finishing the look, all he would have needed was a cowboy hat, boots, chaps and a silver belt buckle, and he would have looked every inch the cowboy he wasn't. But hey, he still loved that photo best.

A block away from their destination. Just that small amount, but that's when all heck broke loose.

"Hey! Let go of me, you filthy- WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE D-MMMM! MMMM!"

Ted whipped around, only to see Madison being dragged (rather unwillingly) away through an alley. "Madison!" Ted went to run after her, only to find himself being restrained. "Hey! Let me go-!" The next thing he knew, he was seeing black.

And Madison was gone.

(*)

When Madison awoke, the first thing she thought was, _W__here am I?_ And close after came, _Dang! It's cold in here!_

Madison looked around the slightly cramped room. The walls were made of metal, as was the door. The only fixture in the room was a large air vent right above her head.

Then another thought struck her.

_Where's Ted?_

Madison looked around frantically. Sure, she wasn't exactly _fond_ of the Ekat, but that didn't mean she wanted someone to kill him. That was her job, when she got to use him to practice her karate moves.

"Ted?" she called quietly, worried about who would hear her. "Ted!"

There was a soft moan.

"Ted!" Madison cried, scrambling off of his limp figure. She, apparently, had been sitting on him.

"M-Madison...?" Ted asked weakly. "Are you okay? Where are we?"

"I don't know, but it's really cold!"

Ted's head snapped up. "Cold?" He scrambled to his feet, walking over to one of the walls and touching them, snapping his hand back as if it had electrified him.

"What's wrong?"

"It's cold. Like, really cold," Ted said.

Madison rolled her eyes. "Duh, I think I just said that, genius."

"No, I mean it's, like, _Antarctica_ cold," Ted insisted.

"So?"

"People can't survive in Antarctica. It kills them off without the proper equipment and clothing." Ted looked down at his t-shirt and shorts. "And this, Madison, is _not_ proper clothing." He looked down at his watch, studying the screen in poorly-hidden fear. He swallowed. "I... It's fifteen degrees in here."

"How cold do you think it could get before we... you know?" Madison wouldn't have admitted it, but she was scared too.

"I... maybe minus twenty? But how long would depend on how fast the temperature is dropping."

"Well, how fast is the temperature dropping?"

"How should I know?"

Madison sighed. When she had pictured dying, it hadn't been in a cooler. It had been doing something cooler then other people have done. Maybe skiing down Mount Everest, or jumping out of a spaceship. She hadn't thought of dying because her and her friend-enemy had been kidnapped and locked in a freezer. She could only hope that Ted was right about how low a temperature they could survive. If he wasn't...

Madison hugged her arms around herself tightly. It was like trying to melt an iceberg with an ice cube; it just didn't work.

"Cold?" Ted questioned. It was a stupid question, considering the temperature, their clothing, and the fact that they were pretty much just waiting to die. That would make anyone feel cold.

"Yeah, I guess," Madison mumbled.

"You guess?" Ted laughed. "Is there someone else I can ask?"

"Not funny, Starling," Madison hissed. "I thought this was serious."

Ted sighed. He and his brother are identical in almost every way, but Ted hadn't gotten his brother's knack for jokes. "It is. Sorry."

Madison shivered. She hated feeling cold. It was a foreign feeling, and she hated it. "It's okay, I guess," she murmured. "So what now, seriously? We just stand here and wait to be rescued like little princesses?"

Ted frowned, not liking being referred to as a princess. "I guess? It might be the only way out of here. Being the fact that this is a freezer, the walls and door must be extremely thick. I doubt we'll be able to bust our way out." Madison frowned, but said nothing. "Unless you have a plan?" Silence. "We'll get out of here, you know. You don't need to be scared."

That broke Madison out of whatever trance she was in. She turned on him fiercely. "I'm not _scared_! Holts don't feel fear! _Period_!"

Ted held his hands up in a surrendering position. "I, uh, didn't mean it?"

Madison rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She plopped down on the floor, releasing (what sounded to Ted like a defeated) breath. "If you're not going to put your 'superior intellect'" - Ted frowned at the use of air quotes - "to good use, then we might as well sit down for a bit."

Ted shifted slightly. "That might not be such a good idea..." A glare from Madison shut him up. Sure, he thought it might be better to jog in place or something to keep their blood pumping, but he didn't want his blood to be kept up by running away from Miss Angry Eyes sitting at the base of the wall. "Or... we could just sit down." He sat down next to her, careful to keep his bare arms from touching anything.

_A few minutes later..._

Ted felt frozen solid.

He couldn't even remember what it felt like to be warm.

"M-M-Madison?" Ted stuttered, mouth feeling just as frozen as the rest of him. "Are you cold?" Madison wasn't hugging her legs to her chest like she had been minutes ago. On the contrary, her arms were by her sides, and she wasn't even shivering.

Not good.

"Madison..." Ted breathed quietly. "Are you okay? Aren't you cold?"

"No way," she said. "The body of a Holt adapts quickly to any temperature and climate! I'm not even cold anymore!"

Ted tried to keep from gasping or something equally as stupid. "Madison, that's not your body adapting! That's you..." He tried to think of a way to put it that wouldn't send her freaking out. In a simple way that she would understand.

Madison looked over at him, one eyebrow raised. "That's me _what_?"

Ted took a deep breath of a freezing, arctic-like air that seemed to turn his lungs to Popsicles. "Nothing. I was, ah, thinking of something else." He stood up shakily. "Help me find a way to open the door."

Madison looked at him oddly. "You said it yourself, we can't bust it down."

"I know what I said!" Ted pressed his lips together tightly. _Stay calm, idiot! Don't upset her..._ "I just meant that we should try, at least, instead of just assuming. I _have_ been known to be wrong before."

Madison shrugged and stood up somewhat uneasily. "If you say so, Einstein. Just don't come crying to me when you fail."

Ted ignored that remark and surveyed the room instead.

It was white and covered in a thin layer of frost. Not good for someone who was still dressed in workout clothes. However, Ted noticed something he hadn't before. A box. It looked like an electrical box, which Ted figured was probably what he was looking for.

"Help me with this box lid," he instructed Madison, pointing to the box.

Madison rolled her eyes, but did as she was told. She grabbed one side of the box, while Ted grabbed the other.

"On the count of three, pull. One... two... three... PULL!" Ted's frozen muscle hated him more then he thought. They strained and pulled, and yet the lid didn't budge.

That must have been the eye-opener for Madison. She realized that she wasn't not cold, but that she was so cold that she didn't feel it anymore. That her body was starting to shut itself down. "W-Why... why can't I pull this off?"

Ted looked at her sadly, not even able to imagine what that must feel like. "I... I'm sorry. This was probably my fault in some way..."

Madison didn't say anything, just pursed her lips. Ted thought he could see gears turning behind her bright brown eyes. "Are you saying you did this?"

Ted's eyes widened and he shook his head. "No, of course not!"

"Prove it."

"I'm in here with you. If I wanted you dead, why would I stick myself in here with you?"

"Suicide?"

"Why would I want to do that?"

Madison shrugged. "I don't know."

Ted resisted the urge to scream. He needed to think, and think _clearly_. He couldn't afford fighting with his fellow cell mate.

He scanned the door, looking for anything that might be a weak point. This place couldn't be completely impenetrable! It's scientifically impossible!

Ted walked over and decided to do the most obvious and original thing in the book: try the handle.

Big mistake.

The moment Ted's hand touched the handle, he felt forty-thousand volts zip through his entire body. "Argh!" He felt something ram into him, and sent him flying ten feet into the wall of the cramped space where he crumpled to the ground, not bothering to try to move, and letting blackness overtake him.

(*)

Madison slammed into Ted as soon as his cry of pain had rang out. She had actually _seen_ the electricity on the door handle spark when Ted had touched it!

Uh, ow?

Madison ran over to Ted, kneeling next to his limp form. "Are you okay, Ted? … Ted?"

No answer.

Madison pressed her lips together, trying to convince herself that someone would come to save them. That they would get out in time. That Ted wouldn't die an icy, cold, cruel death at some heartless boob's hand. And though she told herself not to, though she knew it was weakness, Madison let a tear fall.

It was warm against her benumbed cheek, which felt beyond wonderful.

Her eyes fell on Ted's watch, which he had used to check the temperature with. She wondered what it was at now, how long she – both of them – would have to survive.

She gasped at the number she saw.

_-18_

_Maybe minus twenty?_ Ted had said. She also remember what he had said earlier. _You'd be surprised what two degrees can do._

_What a difference two degrees can make,_ Madison thought worriedly, _is the difference between life and death!_

Two degrees. That was all that was needed before she could die from frost bite. She realized she could barely feel her legs. _Not good, not good!_

_Oh, what are you thinking, Madison?_ another voice argued. _You're a Holt! You don't feel fear. Pain. Remorse! How dare you-_

_Shut up!_ commanded her other side. _Ted tried his best, and you're making fun of him too! You'll feel guilty if he dies in here!_

Madison realized she was fighting with herself, and losing badly, so she shut up both sides of her head before she turned into Smeagol.

The numbers on Ted's watch changed.

_-19  
>I'm not going to die here! No! I... I can't...<em> Madison felt like crying. She hadn't wanted it to end this way. And what about Ted? _What about him? It doesn't matter. We're dead no matter what...  
><em>The door choose that moment to burst open, and who should walk in but the very people they had been waiting for.  
>Ned Starling. Eisenhower Holt. Mary-Todd Holt. Reagan Holt. Sinead Starling. Their families. They had come!<p>

"Madison!" Reagan cried, running over to her sister and tackle-hugging her. "We were so worried! Are you okay?"

Madison smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine, Reagan."

"Ted!" Sinead said, eyes wide with worry. "Ned, is he...?"

"Almost," Ned said, hefting his brother onto his shoulders. "But we got here in time."

Madison wouldn't have liked to admit it, but she was practically limp with relief at that news.

(*)

Madison walked into the hospital room. The doctor, after hours of waiting, had finally announced that Ted was well enough to see visitors. Ned and Sinead were the first to go in, but then it was Madison's turn.

"Hey there, Starling."

Ted looked up weakly and smiled. He had pillows behind him so he was in a sitting position. "Nice to see you're alright, Holt."

"You mean that?" Madison asked.

"Yeah, I suppose I do," Ted said. "After getting electrocuted, you better have made it out alive!" Ted laughed. It was a carefree-type laugh that showed he was feeling much better.

"Yeah..." Madison murmured quietly. "Thanks for that, by the way."

Ted gazed at her oddly, as if she had just admitted to liking Justin Bieber... or something just as unexpected. "Did you just... _thank_ me?"

Madison scowled. "Is that so weird?"

"Well..." Ted hesitated. "I just wasn't really expecting it. I've never seen you thank anyone before, and you aren't exactly known for your kindness." He chuckled.

"You're lucky you're bedridden," Madison growled, though it seemed a bit more playful then mean.

"I know!" Ted said, laughing once again.

"Well, my family's probably eager to get home, so... I guess I'll see you?"

"Hmm," Ted pretended to think. "I suppose..."

Madison turned to leave, but paused before she reached the door. She hesitated, but then one thought screamed in her mind, _just do it!_ She turned and gave Ted a quick kiss on the cheek, before whipping around and zipping out of the door before Ted could see how red her face had turned.

(*)

Ted stared at the door for a full thirty seconds before coming back to reality. He absentmindedly reached up and touched his cheek, where a slight tingle had been left in Madison's wake.

_Did she really just...?_

Of course, he had been there, he knew the answer, but he couldn't quite grasp one, small thought.

_She kissed me!_

Ted let a small smile creep onto his face.

_It's amazing what two degrees can do._


End file.
